Gems from Thailand

Buy and sell gemstones on this site for FREE using the form below Please enter your email address Please enter your full name Please enter your phone  number Country US Canada United Kingdom Europe Asia Africa South America Other I would like to buy sell Gemstone -----Select a gemstone----- Achroite Agate Alexandrite Almandite Amazonite Amber Amblygonite Amethyst Ametrine Ammolite Ammonite Andalusite Andradite Anglesite Apache tears Apatite Apophyllite Aquamarine Aventurine Azurite Benitoite Beryl Bixbite Bloodstone Brazilianite Cairngorm Calcite Carnelian Cassiterite Cerussite Cat's-Eye Chrysoberyl Chalcedony Charoite Chiastolite Chrome Tourmaline Chrysoberyl Chrysocolla Chrysoprase Citrine Copal Coral Cordierite Cornelian Corundum Crocoite Cuprite Danburite Demantoid Diaspore Diopside Dioptase Dravite Emerald Enstatite Eosphorite Epidote Euclase Feldspar Fire Agate Fluorite Garnet Glass Goldstone Goshenite Green Beryl Greened Amethyst Grossularite Hambergite Helenite Heliodor Heliolite Hematite Hessonite Hiddenite Howlite Iceland spar Idocrase Indicolite Iolite Ivory and Bone Jade Jadeite Jasper Jeremejevite Jet Korite Kornerupine Kunzite Kyanite Labradorite Lapis Lazuli Larimar Lazulite Lazurite Leucite Malachite Malaya Garnet Marcasite Moissanite Moldavite Moonstone Morganite Morion Mt. St. Helens Stone Nephrite Obsidian Olivine Onyx Opal Orthoclase Paste Pearl and Mother of Pearl Pectolite Peridot Petalite Petoskey Stone Phenakite Plushstone Prasiolite Prehnite Proustite Pyrite Pyrope Quartz Red Beryl Rhodochrosite Rhodizite Rhodolite Rhodonite Rock Crystal Rose Quartz Rubellite Rubies Rutile Sard Sardonyx Scapolite Serpentine Sinhalite Smoky Quartz Sodalite Spectrolite Spessartite Sphalerite Sphene Spinel Spodumene Sugilite Sunstone Taafeite Tanzanite Tektite Tigereye Titanite Topaz Topazolite Tourmaline Triphane Tsavolite Tsavorite Turquoise Turritella Uvarovite Variscite Vermarine Wulfenite Zincite Zircon Zoisite. Description of the stone

Buying Gemstones in Thailand

Bangkok is one of the world's prime markets for gems and jewelry; from diamonds to emeralds and all in between. Gems are sent from all over the world for cutting and dealers from around the globe buy at the markets in Chantaburi and Maesai. Maehasak (between Silom and Suriwong) is the hub of wholesale and manufacturing. If you want gems and colored gemstone jewelry, Bangkok may be the best place in the world to buy it. Colored gems, especially ruby, spinel, sapphire, jadeite, and peridot, are a bargain in Thailand. If you are astute and prepared to haggle you can probably buy a gem for a quarter or a fifth of what you would pay in the west. Buy them for your own use or as a gift only; the retail price of gemstones is somewhere between 3 to 5 times the wholesale price, so its hard to see how you could sell them at a profit.

Buying gem stones is more complex than buying gold. Each stone is different and it is difficult to assess the value. What is a stone worth? It is worth what someone is willing to pay for it and there is no easy way to find that out other than trying to sell it. It is unlikely that you will find any bargains.

Bangkok has developed as a world center for the gemstone trade for 2 reasons. Firstly the Thais are brilliant when it comes to cutting the stones from the rough rock. They know how to cut the rough so that the stone has maximum sparkle and beauty. Although India and parts of South America also have large gemstone industries, their artisans are way behind the Thais when it comes to producing a quality stone. The skill of the Thais may be connected to their apprenticeship system. Cutters start working in the factory at the age of about 15. They live in the factory helping to clean it and learning their craft initially by polishing stones. Older cutters teach the boys the secrets of the business.

Secondly Thailand is one of the world leaders in the heat treatment of gem stones. Most ruby and sapphire are heat treated. Monghsu is heated to remove the characteristic blue core.This is an extraordinarily expensive art to learn, and the secrets are generally kept within the family sometimes to a single member. To understand why it is so expensive imagine you are treating a stone worth say $100,000 and you get the temperature wrong: you have rendered the stone worthless.

Semi Precious Stones

Songwad Road, in Samphantawong, sometimes called Wat Koh, near Chinatown is a good place to buy these stones cheaply.

Precious stones

The Jewelry Trade Center is a good starting place. It is the largest centre for selling, sourcing and distributing jewelry in Bangkok and one of the largest such centres in Asia. The building houses an International Gem and Diamond Bourse (one of the largest in Asia) with a fully computerised trading area that provide 'real-time' information of the gems inventory. There is also a fully equiped gem testing labouratory operated by the Asian Instituted of Gemological Sciences (AIGS). It is located at 919/1 Silom Road and is the fourth tallest building in Bangkok so you shouldn't miss it. You can buy and sell gems online at the Silom Galleria which is located on the 6th Floor.

The whole area at the bottom end of Silom near the river around and in the Jewelry Trade Center and Mahaesak Road, between Silom and Suriwong in Bangrak,are good places to find legitimate gem shops. There are more than 1000 companies dealing with gems and jewelry. It should be noted that although these shops will not rip you off in terms of selling you the wrong product, but they will try to sell you gems at a price many times higher than they are actually worth so be careful.

For retail jewelers go to Old Siam Plaza. Try to establish a good relationship with a jeweler and then do all your shopping at same shop.

Beauty Gems and Premier Gems are probably Thailand's biggest gem dealers.

Silom

Many gem cutting factories once were located in Silom. The factories have moved out of Bangkok but the retailers have remained. The owners buy their gems from wholesalers in Mae Sai, Mae Sot and Chanthaburi.

Many gem shops offer on site certification hosting their own Gemological Institute of America (GIA) trained and licensed gemlogoists. Certification can also be done at the GIA offfice in Bangkok by a European gemologist although this can be expensive.

Gem shops dealers in Silom have a considerable investment in their location and they will not risk losing their reputation by selling fakes. On the other they will try to get the best price they can, as in any business, and the gem, although real, may not be worth what you paid for it.

Chanthaburi

Chanthaburi is located about 250 kilometers south-west of Bangkok. It is the number one place in Thailand to get faceted gems at wholesale prices. The gem market grew alongside the historic ruby and sapphire mines, some of which are still in production today. However, the mines have been on the decline since the late '70s due to the depletion of corundum bearing sources. The use of modern technology and large mining operations quickly extracted the easily accessible, high quality gems. However, the use of heat treatment has allowed for the transformation of low quality corrundum into gem quality sapphires and new mines have been opened.

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